Author: andrew

  • Trip Report: Kayaking the Skagit River between Marblemount and Rockport

    Summary: Date: Sunday, January 14, 2018 Class rating: I to low-II (high water level probably made our trip easier than usual) Run length: 10.5 miles Run duration: 1:55 (averaged 6.5 knots, mostly drifting) Water level: appx. 9700 cfs (recommended range is 1,500 to 12,000 cfs) Shuttle length: 9.1 miles Launch point: Marblemount Boat Launch at…

  • Mini-review: Memorex Mi4703PBLK iPod/iPhone dual alarm clock radio

    Summary: Not bad in general, but inability to set alarm volume is a fatal flaw for me. This clock radio has generally decent UI (which puts it way ahead of the pack), looks reasonably ok (at least compared to most), will play from, control (play/pause/skip), and charge an iPhone or iPod (but can\’t control iPods…

  • Griffin Elan Folio Slim case for iPad 2: Not For Me

    I\’m searching for a good case for my iPad 2. I\’m looking for something that firmly encloses the full device (unlike Apple\’s cover, which just covers the top), that is slim, that will prop up the iPad (for typing and for watching video), and with a front flap that will fold all the way around…

  • Election 2010 Aftermath

    Well, election day is over, and most of the vote-counting is wrapping up. Some things went my way, some things didn\’t. To those who gained in this election: congratulations. You\’re going to focus on your priorities – that\’s understood, and appropriate. But please try to govern for all – there\’s a huge part of America…

  • Wikihistory short story

    Wikihistory is a most amusing time-travel short story by Desmond Warzel, posted to the Abyss & Apex Magazine of Speculative Fiction, which I had not previously heard of, but I think I should explore it some. (The story is unrelated to wikihistory.org, which looks like it could be a really good reference. EDIT: Looks like whikihistory.org…

  • Campaign for Real Beauty

    I saw another one of the Campaign for Real Beauty videos today, which reminded me of the first one I saw. The videos are from Dove, and I don\’t want to endorse them in general, but I think they are pretty powerful and I\’m quite sympathetic to the basic ideas being expressed, that our ideas of human…

  • Cool, short video on Moebius transformations

    Came across a neat video tonight about Moebius transformations. It\’s pretty short, and the real cool bit (to me) is the introduction of the sphere. Found here via videosift. via videosift.com

  • Ants that walk on each other to get over holes

    Came across an AFP article today (ok, a month or so ago, but apparently I didn\’t hit the Publish button after writing this post) about army ants using their bodies to cover holes, so other ants can walk across on the backs of the first ants. This isn\’t a bunch of ants being sacrificed to…

  • Traveler’s Phrase Book T-shirt

    Check out this Traveler’s Phrase Book T-shirt. Basically, it’s a cotton t-shirt (comes in black, red or grey) with common symbols surrounding a question mark, so if you don’t know the language where you are traveling, you can point at items on your t-shirt to get your question across. Symbols include things like a telephone,…

  • Directions from New York to Paris

    Thanks to a post on Slashdot, I discovered that Google Maps gives awesome directions from New York, NY to Paris, France.